For a background check in India, HR usually asks for an identity document, an address proof, degree certificates and marksheets, and employment letters with payslips or a UAN. For some roles it also needs details for court records, references, a professional licence or a credit report. Each document shows what a piece of paper says, and none of them proves itself. The safer approach is to collect the details and the candidate's consent, confirm each record with whoever issued it, and keep the result rather than the copy.
The documents, check by check
Ask for everything in one request at the offer stage, and skip any check the role does not need.
| Check | What HR usually asks for | What it shows | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | Masked Aadhaar, PAN, passport, voter ID or driving licence | The details printed on the card | That the card is genuine, or that it belongs to the person handing it over |
| Address | Aadhaar, passport, utility bill, rent agreement or bank statement | An address the person had when the document was issued | That they live there today |
| Education | Degree certificate, final marksheet, provisional certificate, registration number | What the certificate says | That the university or college issued it to this person |
| Employment | Offer, relieving and experience letters, payslips, Form 16, UAN | What the employer's letters and tax records say | Designation, role and reason for leaving, until the past employer confirms them |
| Court records | Full name, father's name, date of birth, past addresses | Nothing on their own: these are search inputs | Whether a case found belongs to this person |
| References | Names, titles, work email and phone of former managers | Who the candidate expects to vouch for them | That the referee is who they say they are |
| Professional licence | Registration certificate, number and issuing council | That a registration was granted | That it is still current |
| Credit report | The candidate's own report, downloaded by them | Credit history on the report date | Anything about job performance |
Some roles also need database and watchlist, drug and medical, or digital footprint checks, which run through specialist partners.
Identity
Ask for one government photo ID and the PAN. A masked Aadhaar, which shows the last four digits, is enough for most hiring purposes. A passport, voter ID or driving licence also works as photo ID.
The Aadhaar Act says an Aadhaar number or its authentication does not, by itself, confer or prove citizenship or domicile (section 9). A PAN card shows a number, a name and a date of birth. The Income Tax Department's Verify PAN Status service checks a PAN against the name and date of birth entered and then displays its status, which no card can do.
A copy cannot show that the card was not edited, or that the person holding it is the person on it. Keeping identity photocopies carries its own risks, which we cover in a separate post, and a confirmed result answers the question a copy cannot.
Address
Common address proofs are the Aadhaar, a passport, a utility bill, a registered rent agreement or a bank statement. Each one shows an address that was true when it was issued.
The address on an Aadhaar is the one the holder last updated. UIDAI's 2022 amendment to its enrolment and update regulations says holders may update their supporting documents at least once on completing every ten years from enrolment, to keep their information accurate (UIDAI, November 2022). A passport shows the address given when it was issued. Rent agreements expire, and people in hostels, paying-guest rooms and shared flats often have no bill in their name.
Treat an address document as a lead, not an answer. If the role needs a current address, confirm it with a digital address check or a visit, and ask for the full address with a landmark so the check does not stall.
Education
Ask for the highest degree certificate, the final or consolidated marksheet, and the provisional certificate if the degree has not been issued yet. Add the registration or enrolment number, the year of passing and, for an affiliated college, the university that awarded the degree. If the candidate's name has changed, ask for proof of the change.
A certificate does not show that the university or college issued it to this person. That answer comes from the issuer's own record, through its verification desk or a QR code on a certificate it issued digitally. Certificates issued on Dygital.degree are in the NAD standard format, with a QR code that checks the certificate against the issuer's record.
If your policy is to see originals at joining, look at them and hand them back. In a case reported by LiveLaw in 2014, the Madras High Court asked a private engineering college to return original certificates it had kept, ruling that withholding them "on any ground is not legal and proper" (LiveLaw, June 2014).
Employment
For each past employer, HR usually asks for the offer or appointment letter, the relieving and experience letters, the last few payslips and Form 16. Add the candidate's UAN, their employee code at each company, and the name and work email of an HR contact there.
Form 16 is the certificate an employer gives an employee at the end of the financial year, setting out salary income, deductions and the tax deducted at source (Income Tax Department). Tax deducted from salary also appears in Part B of the candidate's Annual Information Statement. EPFO's Service History feature shows a member's previous and current employers, with dates of joining and exit, against their UAN (Business Today, August 2026).
None of these records states designation, role or the reason for leaving. Letters and payslips are also the easiest documents to fake, because letterhead is easy to copy. Official records can have gaps too: the same Business Today guide tells members to check their service history for missing employment periods and incorrect details.
The reliable route has two steps. Match the EPFO and TDS records first, with the candidate's consent. Then ask the past employer's HR to confirm designation, dates and exit.
Court and criminal records
A court record check needs search inputs, not documents: full name and any earlier names, father's name, date of birth, and addresses for the period you search. The national eCourts service lets anyone search cases by party name, case number or CNR. The details matter: a common name returns other people's cases, and each match has to be checked against more than a name.
Some candidates offer a police clearance or character certificate. It reflects what the issuing police office recorded on its date. Where the role needs police verification, it can be run online where the state police offer it, or offline.
References
Ask for two or three referees who managed the candidate, with their current title, work email and phone number. Before you call, confirm the referee works where they say, for example by writing to their work email.
Professional licence
For doctors, nurses, chartered accountants, lawyers and other regulated roles, ask for the registration certificate, the registration number and the council that issued it. A certificate does not show that the registration is still current. Check the council's own register, such as the National Medical Commission's Indian Medical Register for doctors.
Credit report
For roles that handle money, some employers check credit history. Do not pull a candidate's report yourself. Since January 2017, the Reserve Bank of India has required credit information companies to give individuals one free full credit report a calendar year, on request (RBI, September 2016). The candidate downloads it and shares it with you. It shows credit history on the date of the report, so ask for it close to the offer, and when the role justifies it.
What not to collect
- An unmasked Aadhaar copy, when the last four digits and a verified result do the job.
- Original certificates kept on file.
- Bank statements, when a payslip, EPFO and TDS records answer the question.
- Family, religion, caste or health details, unless a law or the role requires them.
- A blanket "all documents" folder for every hire, whatever the role.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 limits consent to the personal data necessary for the purpose you state (section 6(1)). It also asks the organisation to erase personal data once the purpose is no longer being served, unless a law requires it to be kept (section 8(7)). These duties take effect in May 2027 (G.S.R. 843(E)). A documents list built around them now is easier than a cleanup later.
Verify at the source, keep the result
Most of the documents above answer the question "what does this paper say?". HR needs to know "is it true?". That answer sits with whoever issued the record: the university or college for a degree, the past employer for designation and exit, the court for a case, the council for a licence.
So change what you ask the candidate for. Ask for the details that let you find each record, and for consent to confirm it at the source. Then keep the result: what was checked, who confirmed it and when. A result answers the hiring question, and it is far less to protect than a folder of copies.
This is how Checkkbox works. The candidate approves each check from their phone, and you receive results, not document copies. In ADi Wallet, candidates hold records fetched from the source with their consent, including EPFO and TDS employment records, and degrees their university or college issued in the NAD standard format. Identity, education and EPFO/TDS employment checks close in under 15 minutes when the candidate's records are on the network. Past-employer confirmation takes as long as their HR takes to reply. Court record checks are digital and usually come back within 15 minutes. Employers see only the last 4 digits of the Aadhaar and the result, and Aadhaar is re-validated with a fresh OTP the candidate enters on each request.
For degrees, the quickest answer is a certificate issued on Dygital.degree. The university or college issues it in the NAD standard format, signed by the Registrar, Controller of Examinations and Vice-Chancellor and anchored on Hyperledger, and its QR check confirms it against the issuer's record, so there is no letter to wait for and no copy to keep. More than 20 universities and colleges issue on Dygital.degree, and more than 150 verification agencies verify academic records on Checkkbox (Company data, Oct 2026).
If your team wants to move from collecting documents to confirming results, book a demo and we will walk through a check on your own hiring flow.
Sources
- UIDAI, "The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016", as amended, section 9
- Income Tax Department, "Verify Your PAN User Manual", accessed October 2026
- UIDAI, "Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2022", Gazette notification, November 2022
- LiveLaw, "Retaining Original Certificates Is Illegal and Improper: Madras High Court", June 2014
- Income Tax Department, "Salaried Individuals for AY 2026-27", accessed October 2026
- Income Tax Department, "AIS: Annual Information Statement", accessed October 2026
- Business Today, "Missing PF account? Here's how EPFO's service history can save taxpayers time and hassle", August 2026
- eCourts Services, case status search, accessed October 2026
- National Medical Commission, "Indian Medical Register", accessed October 2026
- Reserve Bank of India, "Free Annual Credit Report to Individuals", RBI/2016-17/58, September 2016
- Ministry of Law and Justice (via MeitY), "The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023)", Gazette of India, August 2023
- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Notification G.S.R. 843(E) appointing commencement dates under the DPDP Act, Gazette of India, November 2025
